Warwickshire pioneers luxury bus travel
Warwickshire is the national pioneer for a new way to travel in luxury on public transport.
Stagecoach, working with Warwickshire County Council, has this week launched its new luxury bus concept Goldline in a bid to tempt motorists from their cars.
And the national operation has chosen Warwickshire for the launch of the new service and introduction of 15 of the new buses, in the Leamington, Warwick and Whitnash areas.
John Deegan, Warwickshire County Council’s Strategic Director of Environment and Economy, said: “This is a product which will be a whole new journey experience for so many people in our county. We feel particularly delighted and privileged that Stagecoach has decided to launch such a unique and exciting initiative here in Warwickshire, the only area in England chosen for this pilot scheme.
“I find it very rewarding that one of the reasons for choosing this part of the country to introduce the Goldline route is based on the proactive, positive and productive partnership which has been in place between ourselves and Stagecoach over the last few years.
“A very real example of this is the voluntary quality partnership we entered into with Stagecoach five years ago covering a route, still known as the 66 route. Several factors, including investment in new vehicles by Stagecoach, investment in vastly improved bus waiting facilities and infrastructure by the county council, joint working on measures to improve timings, frequency and reliability, and county council financial support in excess of £100K a year to provide evening and Sunday services, have all contributed towards significant improvement in service quality and subsequent growth in patronage over the last few years.
“I am very confident that this latest initiative will result in a further sea change in passenger transport quality on this route and I am equally confident that both current and potential bus users in Leamington, Warwick and Whitnash will play their part in supporting the scheme by leaving the car at home, travelling by bus in style, and helping us all to reduce pollution and congestion in our towns.”
Stagecoach says Passengers travelling on goldline will benefit from a comprehensive package that includes:
* Stylish and comfortable hand-stitched Italian-designed leather high-backed coach seats
* Specially-designed flooring, track lighting and a softer fabric interior
* Customer promise and staff charter with guaranteed service standards and free tickets if passengers are delayed by than 20 minutes because of factors within Stagecoach’s control.
* Hand-picked friendly drivers, turned out in smart navy uniform, with staff encouraged to undertake specialist vocational training.
* Cleaner and greener Euro 4 engines designed to help cut carbon emissions and protect the planet
* All vehicles fitted with CCTV for added comfort and safety
* Independent performance monitoring and published quarterly reports on punctuality and reliability.
Brian Souter, Stagecoach Group Chief Executive, said: “goldline is a completely new concept and we are challenging people to rethink their expectation of bus travel. This is about far more than a bus with leather seats. It is a complete package offering passengers luxury travel and unrivalled first-class customer service on some of the greenest state-of-the-art transport in Europe.
“Our research shows that some people stick with the car because they like some of the comforts it offers. With goldline, they can catch a little luxury at a fraction of the cost of commuting to work by car - and do their bit to cut their carbon footprint and save the planet.”
Bus fares on the new service are completely unaffected.